In recent years, the federal government and private industry have entrusted universities to manage a considerable portion of their research portfolio. Many, but certainly not all, university research administrators come from the faculty ranks, and many have little or no formal training in this role. More often than not, they learn the profession "on the job." Some facets of research administration simply require either "common sense" or personal experience as a research-active faculty member. However, there are many other aspects that benefit from formal training. These include the historical...

Within the complex environment of higher education, administrators and faculty members face daunting challenges in their unique domains of institutional governance. Many of the greatest challenges arise from basic misunderstandings of authority and its limitations by administrators and faculty members alike. These misunderstandings are the primary source of disruptive confusion, mistrust, and mismanagement. Consequently, an institution's governance would improve significantly if its personnel clearly understand the fundamental principles of authority. To bring about this improvement,...